NDFU poll: 75 percent would vote against ND anti-corporate farming bill
On March 3, two days before key legislative hearings on a bill that would loosen North Dakota’s anti-corporate farming law, the North Dakota Farmers Union released a poll that shows 75 percent of North Dakotans would vote against the bill, if given a chance. Tuesday, March, 03, 2015 - Agweek - News

China urges banks to speed up agriculture sector loans
China urged its banks to speed up lending to agriculture, the country’s banking regulator said on Tuesday, in an effort to bolster a sector that employs almost one third of its 1.4 billion people, but remains in desperate need of funding. Tuesday, March, 03, 2015 - - News

A profit-friendly partnership
Jeff Broin says if farmers want corn prices back at a profitable level, they need to get involved in politics and get engaged to keep the ethanol industry strong.
At age 49, Broin is the executive chairman and founder of Poet LLC, a company that operates 27 ethanol plants across seven states, producing an estimated 1.7 billion gallons of ethanol a year. Monday, March, 02, 2015 - Agweek - News

College ag student expands job search
The past few months have been eventful for college senior Dylan Pratt. He’s lost his grandfather and taken on a satisfying new responsibility at school. He’s also expanded his horizons — and his job search. Monday, March, 02, 2015 - Agweek - News

What’s the beef with meat?
A recent report is advising Americans to eat less meat, for both nutritional and environmental reasons.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture released its 2015 Dietary Advisory Guidelines, a report released every five years and is generally used as an eating guide to promote healthy lifestyles. This year, however, the report is also encouraging plant-based diets, due to their lighter environmental impact. Monday, March, 02, 2015 - Forum News Service - News

Farm bill deadlines coming up
The U.S. Department of Agriculture extended until March 31 the Feb. 27 deadline to update yields and reallocate base acres. The final day to apply for farm bill safety-net coverage also is March 31, USDA says. Monday, March, 02, 2015 - Agweek - News

ABCs of GMOs: On food shelves since 1994
GMOs — or genetically modified organisms — first hit U.S. grocery shelves in 1994. They have been hotly debated in the two decades since, being denounced as unstable, unhealthy "frankenfoods" by some while being touted as a solution to feeding a growing global population by others.
“Farmers are obviously not out to harm their buyers,” says Scott Sinner, who grows both GMO and non-GMO crops. “Why would they be? It doesn’t make any sense.” Monday, March, 02, 2015 - Forum News Service - News

ND farm law tweak no big deal
There is more support this year to make changes in North Dakota’s anti-corporate farming law. The proposed changes are reasonable but won’t guarantee a rejuvenation of dairy and hog farms, as intended. Monday, March, 02, 2015 - Agweek - News

Coming Home: Winters on the prairies took immense strength
My Great-Grandmother Gudrun was Strong Man Johnson.
At least that’s what she’d tell her grandkids when she was outside the window of the house, declaring to lift it off its foundation, sending my dad and his brother and sister screaming inside as they swore they felt the living room floor sway and tilt underneath them. Friday, February, 27, 2015 - Forum News Service - News

Ag groups rally as cuts eyed to food stamp and insurance programs
Roger Johnson, president of the National Farmers Union and a former North Dakota commissioner of agriculture, said some in Congress are aiming at cuts to the two biggest programs within the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Any cuts would be made in appropriations bills which will be considered over the next months. Friday, February, 27, 2015 - Forum News Service - News

US Corn Belt farmland values down 3 percent in 2014
The average price of quality U.S. farmland fell 3 percent in 2014, marking the first annual decline in almost 30 years, the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago said in its quarterly survey of district bankers on Thursday. Friday, February, 27, 2015 - Reuters - News

Friday is key farm bill sign-up deadline
A key signup deadline for the federal farm bill is looming, and area Farm Service Agency officials urge landowners who haven’t signed up to act quickly.
“Let us know if you haven’t done it yet. We want to work with you,” says Diane Beidler, executive director of Turner County (S.D.) FSA. Tuesday, February, 24, 2015 - Agweek - News